Saturday, December 24, 2011
What
on
Earth:
Volume
7
2011
Luke
Brough
2008
Award
Winner
University
of
Waterloo
Earth
Sciences/
Geology
Option
My
interest
in
geology
goes
back
as
far
as
I
can
remember.
My
dad’s
family
is
from
Bancroft,
Ontario,
the
self-styled
mineral
capital
of
Canada,
so
for
every
Christmas
my
Grandparents
would
give
me
beautiful
rock
samples
from
their
area.
One
of
my
most
vivid
memories
as
a
7
year
old
was
turning
a
large
piece
of
polished
plagioclase
feldspar
over
and
over
in
my
hands
wondering
where
it
came
from.
I
had
never
seen
any
rock
like
it
in
nature
so
I
was
amazed
by
the
thought
that
it
had
been
pulled
from
somewhere
deep
beneath
my
feet.
At
a
young
age
I
began
thinking
about
geology
as
an
exciting
way
to
spend
my
life.
During
one
summer
I
worked
in
a
factory
that
made
metal
tubes
for
cars;
it
was
my
job
to
place
unformed
tubes
into
a
press
and
then
remove
the
finished
ones.
Doing
the
same
exact
motion
over
and
over
for
8
hours
a
day,
5
days
a
week
led
me
to
the
conclusion
that
variety
is
indeed
the
spice
of
life.
Fortunately,
as
a
career
in
Earth
Sciences
is
full
of
variety;
classes
cover
a
wide
spectrum
of
topics
and
different
work
opportunities
are
abundant.
Environmental
hydrogeology
is
the
main
focus
of
the
Earth
Sciences
department
in
Waterloo
so
I’ve
been
exposed
to
many
interesting
ideas
in
that
area.
A
first
year
hydrogeology
course
introduced
me
to
collecting
data
in
the
field
and
I
instantly
fell
in
love.
We
would
get
outfitted
with
huge,
green
hip
waders
and
spend
a
day
in
a
forest
measuring
stream
flow
speeds
or
checking
for
ground
water
contaminants.
Doing
this
kind
of
work
outside
barely
feels
like
work
at
all.
There
are
many
other
interesting
areas
of
Geoscience
that
are
thought
of
as
more
traditional,
such
as
mining
or
earthquakes
and
plate
tectonics.
I’m
currently
working
for
a
geophysical
exploration
company
in
Sudbury,
Ontario,
so
I’m
getting
a
firsthand
look
at
the
mining
industry.
The
scope
of
the
projects
here
is
staggering;
you
can
drive
around
for
hours
in
huge
tunnels
dug
kilometres
underground.
The
jobs
for
geologists
here
cover
all
stages
of
mining.
You
can
work
outdoors
collecting
data
to
determine
where
the
most
economical
deposits
are
or
in
the
office
determining
the
best
way
to
approach
deposits.
Then
geologists
oversee
the
tunnelling
and
later
the
extraction
of
ore.
A
completely
different
type
of
work
is
being
done
in
the
research
of
plate
tectonics
and
the
resulting
earthquakes
and
volcanoes.
I
find
this
area
exciting
because
it
outlines
how
the
world
around
us
was
created
over
millions
of
years.
Working
outdoors
is
one
of
the
best
parts
of
being
in
geology.
The
prospect
of
spending
all
my
time
walking
in
forests,
boating
on
an
ocean,
or
hiking
in
the
mountains
was
one
of
the
major
factors
in
my
decision
to
get
into
this
program.
One
of
the
most
striking
memories
from
my
childhood
was
driving
through
the
redwood
forests
of
Vancouver
Island;
I
would
drive
my
parents
crazy
asking
them
to
stop
so
that
I
could
adventure
through
the
woods.
Since
then
I
have
been
lucky
enough
to
travel
around
the
world
and
see
many
of
our
planet’s
natural
wonders.
While
moving
from
Vancouver
Island
to
Singapore
with
my
family
I
spent
a
week
in
two
very
different
parts
of
Thailand.
First
was
the
capital
city
Bangkok;
it
was
the
most
polluted
metropolis
I’d
ever
seen.
Transport
vans
would
stir
up
huge
clouds
of
dust
as
blue
fumes
would
spew
out
of
their
exhaust
pipes
on
the
crowded
streets.
In
a
strange
juxtaposition
to
this
was
a
coastal
resort
that
I
spent
the
remainder
of
my
time
at.
It
was
a
small
place
with
white
sand
beaches
and
dark
rocks
jutting
out
of
the
water.
If
you
sat
on
the
beach
you
could
watch
crabs
go
about
their
day
or
hear
monkeys
screech
in
the
nearby
jungles.
It
was
difficult
to
see
how
such
a
beautiful
setting
could
be
turned
into
a
city
like
Bangkok.
It’s
amazing
how
much
two
places
in
opposite
parts
of
the
world
can
look
the
same.
While
living
in
Turkey,
some
years
later,
I
hiked
through
canyons
full
of
rock
columns
in
Cappadocia.
They
were
tall,
some
a
couple
stories
high,
and
harshly
weathered
because
of
the
arid
climate
of
the
region.
Walking
around
and
climbing
on
them
brought
back
memories
of
hiking
the
Badlands
of
Alberta.
Despite
being
10,000
kilometres
away
from
Turkey
the
Badlands
were
covered
by
the
same
dusty
rock
hills.
A
day
spent
exploring
the
different
formations
would
leave
you
forever
coated
with
a
fine
layer
of
souvenir
rock
dust.
After
Turkey
we
returned
to
Canada
and
I
lived
in
a
small
town
called
Strathroy.
This
was
my
first
opportunity
to
explore
the
countryside
of
southern
Ontario.
Across
the
street
from
my
house
was
a
huge
conservation
area
that
I
spent
my
summers
jogging
and
biking
through.
Once
you
got
deep
enough
into
the
trails
the
sounds
of
my
neighbourhood
would
give
way
to
the
chirping
of
small
birds
and
the
rustle
of
the
wind
through
the
leaves.
On
a
good
day
you
can
see
the
white
puffs
of
deer
tails
slipping
away
between
the
trees.
Strathroy
is
expanding
quickly,
especially
the
area
near
my
old
house
and
the
forest,
but
luckily
the
town
is
only
building
around
the
forest.
That
forest
looks
nothing
like
the
winter
wonderland
I
spend
my
days
working
in
now.
Summer
forests
are
bursting
with
colour;
layers
of
green
mingling
with
deep
brown.
The
leaves
seem
to
sparkle
as
sunlight
streams
through
the
holes
in
the
forest
ceiling.
Blanketed
in
snow,
the
same
types
of
trees
become
muted.
The
only
green
left
is
the
dark
shade
of
the
evergreens
and
none
of
the
brown
forest
floor
is
visible.
The
snow
makes
the
forest
look
unnaturally
pristine.
As
if
the
plummeting
temperature
not
only
freezes
water
but
time
as
well,
leaving
the
forest
untouchable.
My
employers
are
sending
me
to
Labrador
now
so
I’ll
get
to
explore
a
new
type
of
winter
environment.
Doing
geophysics
for
a
work
term
is
a
great
opportunity
to
expand
on
what
I
learned
in
my
Geophysics
class
last
term.
In
addition
to
that
I
took
mostly
Earth
Science
courses
such
as
Mineralogy,
Paleontology
and
Stratigraphy
and
Earth
History.
The
summer
between
first
and
second
year
I
spent
many
days
wondering
whether
I
was
in
the
right
field
or
not.
My
first
year
classes
were
mostly
general
science
so
it
was
hard
to
tell
what
I
was
getting
myself
into.
However,
my
second
year
classes
and
the
professors
teaching
them
gave
me
a
good
look
at
what
a
future
in
Earth
Sciences
would
be
like.
The
topics
I’ll
be
learning
about
in
the
future
look
very
exciting
as
well.
Volcanology
looks
to
be
one
of
the
highlights
of
third
year.
It
covers
the
different
controls
on
eruptions
and
details
on
the
different
magma
types.
I’m
also
looking
forward
to
Earth
Systems
Science
that
deals
with
global
climate
issues
of
the
past
and
present.
In
fourth
year
Quaternary
Geology
should
be
interesting
as
it
deals
with
the
last
Ice
Age
and
how
it
shaped
Southern
Ontario.
These
are
just
the
topics
that
catch
my
eye
as
I
browse
the
Earth
Science
section
of
the
course
catalogue;
the
best
classes
will
probably
be
about
areas
I’ve
never
even
thought
about.
This
doesn’t
surprise
me
though;
geology
is
always
interesting
in
that
it
keeps
me
guessing.